Poverty and precarity Books

Book Synopsis***WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2023***'Never before, in years of reviewing books about buildings, has one brought me to tears. This one did.' Rowan Moore,Observer Book of the WeekOn 14 June 2017, a 24-storey block of flats went up in flames. The fire climbed up cladding as flammable as solid petrol. Fire doors failed to self-close. No alarm rang out to warn sleeping residents. As smoke seeped into their homes, all were told to stay put'. Many did and they died. It was a tragedy decades in the making. Peter Apps meticulously exposes how a steady stream of deregulation, corporate greed and institutional indifference caused a tragedy. 72 people did not need to die, as the Grenfell Tower Inquiry makes clear. Here is the story of a grieving community forsaken by our government, a community still waiting for justice.Trade Review'Show Me the Bodies is a clear, moving and powerful account of Britain’s worst fire since the second world war, written by someone who knows what he’s talking about… Never before, in years of reviewing books about buildings, has one brought me to tears. This one did.' —Rowan Moore, Observer Book of the Week'Show Me the Bodies will never leave the mind of anyone who reads it. The tragedy is that those who should read it probably won’t.' —Guardian'A searing indictment of the construction industry and regulators… The book that follows reads like a prosecution, meticulous and fierce.' —The Times'A meticulous study of the Grenfell disaster and subsequent inquiry… a powerful reminder that management is not just about managing resources but managing people’s lives.' —Martha Lane Fox, The Sunday Times'A jaw-dropping account of a callous system that swept individual conscience aside in favour of profit and politics. It is hard to convey how moving and enraging the book is — I urge you to read it for yourself. Because one thing almost all of us have been guilty of since the worst disaster in the UK this century is complacency.' —Evening Standard'At first, it was easy to write about Grenfell… Soon, it was dizzyingly hard: a web of technical intricacy, overlapping safety codes and multisyllabic plastic types – all against the fraught backdrop of a police investigation and judge-led inquiry. In his insistence on weaving through such legal pitfalls, Apps stands almost alone… He is one of the only writers beyond the west London community to chronicle the joys of living in Grenfell Tower… A forensic examination of how building regulations and corporate safety standards have been watered down since Margaret Thatcher’s deregulation bonanza.' —New Statesman, Book of the Day'Apps writes that Grenfell “tells us something about… the priority our political and economic system places on human life—especially when those lives are likely to be poor, immigrant and from ethnic minority backgrounds.” He has done their stories justice with this urgent book.' —Prospect'However painful the story of Grenfell is, it is one we must hear. Apps' powerful testament tells us how injustice was manifested and how lessons still fail to be learned.' —David Lammy MP'For the last few years, Peter Apps has been writing the most important reportage on the most important disaster in this country since Hillsborough. Here, he makes clear how this atrocity was easily preventable. Show Me the Bodies also reveals just how little those responsible, from the construction industry to the government, have learned. Whatever the courts eventually decide, this book deserves to be widely read so that the rest of us can finally hold them to account.' —Owen Hatherley, author of The Ministry of Nostalgia'Show Me the Bodies is a staggering achievement, both a testament to the victims, the bereaved and the community of Grenfell and a painstaking, forensic investigation into the causes of the crime itself. Yet it is also an unflinching portrait of UKplc: a divided, deregulated, privatized and neglected kingdom where profit for the few always triumphs over the health, safety and lives of the many, where the victims are always left voiceless, and where the dead never find justice or peace. And where, most damningly of all, we still choose not to act and so still let crimes such as Grenfell happen, over and over, again and again. In short, this is the most harrowing, moving, powerful and important book of the year, and one which every citizen should read. And remember. And learn from and then act upon.' David Peace, author of the Red Riding Quartet'Enormously important… A painstaking chronicle of an entirely avoidable tragedy, its aftermath and its causes.' —James O'Brien, LBC'A harrowing account of the fire itself and a searing indictment of the society that allowed it to happen.' —Financial Times‘Compelling, rigorous, utterly forensic and so very needed. This book has to be the moment that things change.' —Lucy Easthope, author of When the Dust Settles'Working from painstaking daily reporting from the inquiry, alongside extensive interviews with the bereaved and survivors of the Grenfell atrocity, Apps has written a concise, devastatingly detailed and upsetting book. This should be a required text for anyone involved in the built environment. From architects to politicians, all decision makers should read Show Me the Bodies. Then effect change.' —Emma Dent Coad, former MP for Kensington'The most powerful book I have read in years. Compassionate, forensic, heart breaking and enraging on almost every single page.' —Eoin Ó Broin, Sinn Fein T.D. for Dub Mid-West'This book is a vital work of public service. Peter Apps has shown the care, humanity and attention to detail that were lethally lacking among those with the power and responsibility to keep the residents of Grenfell safe. We cannot afford to ignore its lessons.' —Lynsey Hanley, author of Estates'Peter Apps has written a searing indictment of what he rightly calls "the most serious crime committed on British soil this century" in this forensic account of the deregulation, cost-cutting and sheer negligence behind the Grenfell fire and its human cost. It’s essential reading if we are to avoid such needless tragedy in the future.' —John Boughton, author of Municipal Dreams

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewChina's transformation cannot be attributed to a single cause; rather, it arose from a contingent, interactive process—Ang calls it 'directed improvisation.' She formalizes this insight which has the potential to influence future studies of institutional and economic change beyond China. * Foreign Affairs *While adaptive approaches to development have become new buzzwords, Yuen Yuen's work brings rigor to this conversation.... This analytical lens has enormous potential for thinking through the adaptive challenge, whether at the national level, subnational level or sectoral level. * The World Bank *The book combines methodological rigour, employing a complexity perspective hitherto unknown in standard political economy analyses... with rich original empirical data drawn from more than 400 interviews.... This is an important book with a bold thesis that, at its most ambitious, demands a rethinking of the history and evolution of capitalism.... In terms of policy implications, Ang's thesis has the potential to upend much that the global development establishment holds dear. * The Straits Times *How China Escaped the Poverty Trap... is an original and insightful take on what is perhaps the biggest development puzzle of my lifetime. * Building State Capability Blog *This book is a triumph, opening a window onto the political economy of China’s astonishing rise that takes as its starting point systems and complexity. Its lessons apply far beyond China’s borders. * Oxfam Blog *Ang provides specialists and nonspecialists alike with a fresh inside-the-black-box account of how the Chinese state... has actually practiced (not merely preached) innovation, problem solving, and effective implementation.... Future studies of bureaucratic life in China and elsewhere must reckon seriously with Ang's account. * Governance *As if explaining modern Chinese economic development was not enough of a challenge, Ang has two even loftier goals. The first is methodological. She expresses a frustration with political science's causality obsession and modeling approaches that deliver isolated snapshots of complex processes.... Ang's second ambition is to apply this coevolutionary schema to how we understand economic development generally. * Perspectives on Politics *This book is an invaluable addition to the scholarship on the political economy of development. * Pacific Affairs *How China Escaped the Poverty Trap is an innovative account to explain why China has economically developed in spite – or because – of its low-quality institutions. It is both a theoretically original and empirically rich study of Chinese economic development and required reading for those who want to understand China's and our own future. * VoegelinView *The author has certainly filled the gaps in the literature on the political-economic analysis of China's historic transformation from a low-income to a middle-income country through adoption of a co-evolutionary approach to development. Overall, this interesting book goes deeper beneath the broad political-economic surface of Chinese society. It should appeal not only to researchers on Chinese society, but also to practising political economists. * Ecoomic Record *Table of ContentsIntroduction: How Did Development Actually Happen? Part 1 FRAMEWORK AND BUILDING BLOCKS 1. Mapping Coevolution 2. Directed Improvisation Part 2 DIRECTION 3. Balancing Variety and Uniformity 4. Franchising the Bureaucracy Part 3 IMPROVISATION 5. From Building to Preserving Markets 6. Connecting First Movers and Laggards Conclusion: How Development Actually Happened Beyond China Appendix A: Steps for Mapping Coevolution Appendix B: Interviews

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing Award 2021 In 2016, a United Nations report found the UK government culpable for grave and systematic violations' of disabled people's rights. Since then, driven by the Tory government's obsessive drive to slash public spending whilst scapegoating the most disadvantaged in society, the situation for disabled people in Britain has continued to deteriorate. Punitive welfare regimes, the removal of essential support and services, and an ideological regime that seeks to deny disability has resulted in a situation described by the UN as a human catastrophe'.In this searing account, Ellen Clifford an activist who has been at the heart of resistance against the war on disabled people reveals precisely how and why this state of affairs has come about. From spineless political opposition to self-interested disability charities, rightwing ideological myopia to the media demonization of benefits claimants, a shTrade ReviewA new book by disabled activist Ellen Clifford could not be more timely. Clifford, who is active in the UK with the Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC) looks at the intersection between capitalism and disability and how disabled activists have been fighting against the austerity agenda in the UK ... The courage, commitment and clarity of politics found in Clifford’s book are a resource that anyone who is serious about building a better world can draw on. * Spring Magazine *The War on Disabled People is a must-read book on resistance to the "conscious cruelty" of austerity, which attacks the most disadvantaged … Clifford's book thoroughly documents the government’s ideological policy agenda of welfare reforms to rip away the welfare-state safety net and put conscious cruelty at the heart of their austerity agenda. * Morning Star *A fascinating and well-researched understanding of how, since 2010, the lives of disabled people in the UK have been negatively impacted by political decisions including austerity and capitalism ... The book packs a punch. It leaves the reader in no doubt about how each separate austerity cut has cumulatively affected and eroded the lives of disabled people. * Independent Living *‘A vivid account of the systemic oppression on people labelled “disabled” and is essential reading for everyone concerned about inequality and injustice. * Colin Barnes, University of Leeds *‘If you want to resist the cold cruelty of the war on disabled people and its intensification in the age of austerity, this book is utterly indispensable. * John Clarke, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty *Disabled people have suffered terribly in the period of Tory austerity. Just bad luck? Ellen Clifford gives the answer and explores the uncaring politics behind this harsh regime of punishing the vulnerable. This is an essential book. * Ken Loach, filmmaker & activist *A valuable framework for our continued resistance against the continuing onslaught of purely ideological attacks on our human rights. * Linda Burnip, Disabled People Against Cuts *As the proportion of disabled people gets ever larger in societies globally, this becomes a must-read text. * Peter Beresford, University of Essex and Co-Chair of Shaping Our Lives *‘A forensic account of the devastating assault on disabled people’s benefits and services. * Roddy Slorach, author of A Very Capitalist Condition: A History and Politics of Disability *This is an angry and important book, full of damning findings, moving testimonies and above all highlighting the inspiring struggles of a new generation of activists against a brutally disabling system. * The Socialist Review *[A] hugely revelatory account of the one-quarter of UK society whose struggle for justice is literally a matter of life and death. * Peace News *Table of ContentsPart I Hidden in Plain Sight: the social context for the war on disabled people 1 1. Who are disabled people? 2. Justifiable exclusion: attitudes and othering of disabled people 3. From asylums to independent living: disabled people on the edge of society Part II Targeting Disabled People: retrogressive legislation and policy since 2010 4. Welfare ‘reform’ 5. Independent living cuts Part III Human Catastrophe: the impact of austerity and welfare reform 6. The human cost 7. Re-segregating society 8. Political fallout Part IV Understanding the Welfare War: why disabled people are under attack 9. A story of ideology and incompetence 10. Collaborators Part V Fighting Back: the rise of resistance 11. Forefront of the fightback 12. Concluding thoughts: where do we go from here?

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Book SynopsisJeffrey Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University as well as Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. He is internationally renowned for his work as economic advisor to governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia and Africa.

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Book SynopsisFROM THE MASTER STORYTELLER WHOSE BOOKS HAVE TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF OVER 40 MILLION READERS''Mitch Albom sees the magical in the ordinary'' Cecilia Ahern__________Chika Jeune came into Mitch Albom''s life by chance. Growing up in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 Haiti Earthquake, at three years old she tragically lost her mother and was brought to the orphanage run by Mitch and his wife, Janine. Chika made a quick impression. Brave and self-assured, she delighted those around her. But everything changed when Chika was diagnosed with a terminal disease that no doctor in Haiti could treat. This discovery sparked a two-year, around-the-world journey in search of a cure. As Chika''s boundless optimism and humour taught Mitch the joys of caring for a child, he learned that a relationship built on love can never be lost.__________WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT FINDING CHIKA''A powerful, emotional story'Trade ReviewUplifting . . . Although Finding Chika makes for heart-wrenching reading, it is also a tale of resilience and decency - and the memorable cheerfulness of a dying child * Independent *Heartrending . . . A touching rumination on the magic of children, the extraordinary lengths parents will go for them and the unlikely family that came together across continents * Mail Online *Mitch Albom breaks hearts with his story * Mirror *A heartbreaking story of love, grief and what it really means to be a family * Daily Express *A beautiful, heart-breaking, heart-warming read * My Weekly *

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Book SynopsisMillions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. Leaving her home, she took the cheapest lodgings she could find, and accepted whatever jobs she was offered. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-rent America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity? exposing the darker side of American prosperity and the true cost of the American dream.Trade Review'An extraordinary achievement...surely one of the most gripping political books ever written' - Observer'A valuable and illuminating book...Barbara Ehrenreich is now our premier reporter of the underside of capitalism' - New York Times

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Book SynopsisThe Road to Wigan Pier is a book in two parts: the first half is Orwell’s description of working-class life in industrial communities of the north of England, the second examines his own political views.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is introduced by journalist and author Amelia Gentleman.The Road to Wigan Pier is an insightful and powerful account of lives lived in poverty and deprivation in a time of low wages and meagre government support. Orwell describes dismal housing (including the lodging house where he stays), harsh working conditions and the devastating effects of unemployment. And he also vividly describes the courage and dignity of the people he meets. In the second half of the book, Orwell examines his own political and social affiliations with an impressive ability to provoke and to question. He defends middle-class values whilst critiquing the failures of his own class, he advocates socialism whilst criticizing the socialist movement in England.Trade ReviewWith absolute confidence, after several false starts, the mature George Orwell takes charge of this idiosyncratic account of working-class life from his first page. -- Robert McCrum, '100 best nonfiction books of all time' * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisDispatches from the Threshold is an emergent archive of the burgeoning movement for housing justice in North America and beyond. Housing insecurity turned catastrophic during the COVID-19 pandemic, exposing the cruelty of threadbare tenant protections and state hostility toward unhoused people made worse by mass unemployment, a public health crisis, and racist police violence. Since 2020, tenants have successfully fought back against evictions and encampment policing, pushed their governments to extend and fortify eviction moratoria, strengthened tenants' rights and protections for unhoused people, and thought beyond strategies that primarily appease landlords and lenders. At the same time, the urgent work of stemming immediate eviction, displacement, and surveillance has sat in tension with long-haul movement work and cross-movement organizing. This book brings together activists, scholars, and legal practitioners directly involved in tenant organizing to contextualize and catalogue the traction and tensions of the movement across seventeen cities in five countries. Contributors connect housing justice to struggles against criminalization, surveillance, and policing, and to debates about social reproduction, precarity, organized labour, abolitionist praxis, and political strategy. These dispatches are as much a chronicle of organizing in a moment of crisis as an invitation to build solidarities across movements to ensure enduring justice for all. With contributions from Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Winnipeg, Detroit, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Newark, Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, Lexington, Belgrade, Melbourne, and Khori Gaon.

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Book SynopsisThe Road to Wigan Pier is Orwell's 1937 study of poverty and working-class life in northern England.Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography Chronology The Road to Wigan Pier Appendix: Photographs Explanatory Notes

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Book Synopsis#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, making a “provocative and compelling” (NPR) argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it.“Urgent and accessible . . . Its moral force is a gut punch.”—The New Yorker ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2023: The Washington Post, Time, Esquire, Newsweek, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Elle, Salon, Lit Hub, Kirkus ReviewsThe United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?  In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws

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Book SynopsisThere will be an avalanche of books about the pandemic. None will be as eye-opening or humane or moving as Lamb's' DAILY TELEGRAPHA story of poverty, generosity and worlds colliding in modern BritainWhen Covid-19 hit the UK and lockdown was declared, Mike Matthews wondered how his four-star hotel would survive. Then the council called. The British government had launched a programme called Everyone In ' and 33 rough sleepers many of whom had spent decades on the street needed beds.The Prince Rupert Hotel would go on to welcome well over 100 people from this community, offering them shelter, good food and a comfy bed during the pandemic.This is the story of how that luxury hotel spent months locked down with their new guests, many of them traumatised, addicts or suffering from mental illness. As a world-leading foreign correspondent turning her attention to her own country for the first time, Christina Lamb chronicles how extreme situations were handled and how shocking losses were sTrade Review Praise for The Prince Rupert Hotel For the Homeless ‘A remarkable story… The virtue of this book is the time it takes to listen to and tell the stories of these guests, mostly in their words’ The Spectator ‘‘A story of extraordinary compassion in a difficult time’ The New Statesman ‘The hotel’s year of living compassionately is told with fleetness and gusto by Christina Lamb. Grounded by the pandemic, the Sunday Times chief foreign correspondent chanced upon the story while attending (via Zoom) a Woman of the Year lunch. Her byline usually pops up in the hottest of hotspots – Kabul or Aleppo or Dnipro. Shrewsbury looks like a bathetic entry on that list but, as she outlines in a blistering coda, the UK is far from free of problems that afflict the developing world. Her book is both journal and manifesto. There will be an avalanche of books about the pandemic. None will be as eye-opening or humane or moving as Lamb’s latest dispatch from the front line’Daily Telegraph ‘This insightful account of a four-star establishment taking in rough sleepers amid the pandemic finds grounds for real if slender hope … [a] humane, humble book … a work of scrupulous reportage that offers no easy fixes, dispensing with sentimentality as it chronicles brutal backstories, tender dreams and profoundly disheartening patterns of behaviour while somehow finding grounds for real if slender hope. There is also farce and frustration, all of it building to a rallying cry for more investment in services and social housing’Observer, Book of the Day ‘Inspirational … Lamb has interviewed many of the guests and fills us in on their often harrowing backgrounds, as well as what happened to them once lockdown ended … This moving and often very funny book suggests we could take a more imaginative general approach to helping the homeless – without waiting for another pandemic to galvanise us’Daily Mirror

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Book SynopsisExplains how the poor find solutions to their everyday financial problems by conducting year-long interviews with impoverished villagers and slum dwellers in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa - records that track penny by penny how specific households manage their money.Trade Review"A fascinating discussion of the finances of the world's poor."--Nicholas Kristof, NYTimes.com "Ten years ago, the authors of this unusual study began collecting detailed yearlong 'financial diaries' from households in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa... The diarists did things that might seem irrational--borrowing in order to save; paying interest on savings--but that made sense given their unpredictable incomes and limited options. While the authors do offer prescriptions for how to expand those options, it's their scrupulous attention to actual behavior that makes this book invaluable."--New Yorker "The book's methodology and conclusions are fascinating."--Publishers Weekly "The authors of Portfolios of the Poor found that a 'triple whammy' characterizes the financial lives of the poor. Incomes are not only low; they are also irregular and unpredictable... The authors' account suggests much that can be done to ease the financial conditions of poor people."--Anirudh Krishna, Science "A refreshingly distinct path. Portfolios of the Poor ... avoid[s] the big picture and zoom[s] in on the basics of daily poverty, exploring how poor families manage their money... The diaries reveal a 'real, ongoing, and substantial demand' for better financial services, which poor families need to provide better health care and schooling for their children... Rather than waiting for the world to debate and accept their ideas, these authors have taken them up on their own. In the war against global poverty, that feels like one small battle won."--Carlos Lozada, Washington Post "The research provides evidence of the sophistication with which poor people think about their finances."--The Economist "I recommend this book to anyone who has interest in improving the lives of the poor."--Melinda Gates, Co-chair, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Huffington Post "This is a very interesting book, which examines the quite sophisticated financial system developed by poor households to adjust their spending relative to their income."--Choice "A masterly assessment of the financial needs of people on very low incomes ... stuffed full of interesting and surprising insights, and should be read by anyone concerned with economic development and poverty reduction. I can't praise it highly enough. This is a model of the careful collection of evidence with important practical consequences."--Diane Coyle, The Enlightened Economist "A good overview of how the world's poor intersect with financial institutions at the micro level."--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "This book is a major contribution to the understanding of the situation of the poor in developing countries and should be a 'must reading' for both academics and policymakers concerned with ways of improving developmental policies."--Werner Baer, Enterprise and Society "[A] fascinating and humanizing insight into the economic lives of the global poor, and a valuable resource for attempting to improve those lives."--Ethics & International Affairs "The book is written in a non-technical style accessible to the lay reader... [I]t makes a compelling case about the desperation of poverty, as well as the ingenuity of the people who live under conditions of poverty."--Sajeda Amin, Population and Development Review "Portfolios of the Poor should be read by anyone interested in microfinance, but also who interested in poverty more generally and in how the poor manage their day-to-day lives."--Isabelle Guerin, Enterprise, Development and Microfinance "[T]his is a great book. It remains an excellent survey of the poors' realities, certainly a 'must-have' for all researchers interested in the financial practices of the poor and microfinance."--Marek Hudon, Development and Change "[T]he book is enlightening, methodologically credible and accessible; it is recommended."--Roger MacGinty, Round Table "[W]e learn much about how the poor manage whatever little money they have. On that ground alone I highly recommend the book."--Rolf A.E. Muller, Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture "As Collins, Morduch, Rutherford, and Ruthven summarize their argument, 'Not having enough money is bad enough. Not being able to manage whatever money you have is worse.' Their book is a detailed effort to understand how poor people manage--and, frequently, mismanage--the meager resources at their disposal. They draw on more than 250 financial diaries collected in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa that tracked how money was earned and spent, along with interviews with the diarists. The result is a unique window onto what poverty means for these households."--Timothy Besley, Foreign Affairs "The authors of Portfolios of the Poor ... make a convincing case both for the importance of finance in the lives of the extremely poor and for there being room to improve the provision of financial services to them."--Danny Reviews "One of my favourite books. It gathers new evidence about the financial services people on very low incomes need--and the answers are sometimes surprising. Should be read by anyone with views on microcredit and/or payday loans."--Enlightened Economist "A terrific book."--Diane Coyle, Enlightened EconomistTable of ContentsList of Tables vii List of Figures ix Chapter One: The Portfolios of the Poor 1 Chapter Two: The Daily Grind 28 Chapter Three: Dealing with Risk 65 Chapter Four: Building Blocks: Creating Usefully Large Sums 95 Chapter Five: The Price of Money 132 Chapter Six: Rethinking Microfinance: The Grameen II Diaries 154 Chapter Seven: Better Portfolios 174 Appendix 1: The Story behind the Portfolios 185 Appendix 2: A Selection of Portfolios 211 Acknowledgments 243 Notes 247 Bibliography 265 Index 273

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Book Synopsis''This book flips your world upside down. Daniel Markovits argues that meritocracy isn''t a virtuous, efficient system that rewards the best and brightest. Instead it rewards middle-class families who can afford huge investments in their children''s education ... Frightening, eye-opening stuff'' The Times, Books of the Year Even in the midst of runaway economic inequality and dangerous social division, it remains an axiom of modern life that meritocracy reigns supreme and promises to open opportunity to all. The idea that reward should follow ability and effort is so entrenched in our psyche that, even as society divides itself at almost every turn, all sides can be heard repeating meritocratic notions. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we think we are.But what if, both up and down the social ladder, meritocracy is a sham? Today, meritocracy has become exactly what it was conceived to resist: a mechanism for the concentration and dynastic transmission of wealth and privilege across generations. Upward mobility has become a fantasy, and the embattled middle classes are now more likely to sink into the working poor than to rise into the professional elite. At the same time, meritocracy now ensnares even those who manage to claw their way to the top, requiring rich adults to work with crushing intensity, exploiting their expensive educations in order to extract a return. All this is not the result of deviations or retreats from meritocracy but rather stems directly from meritocracy''s successes.This is the radical argument that The Meritocracy Trap prosecutes with rare force, comprehensive research, and devastating persuasion. Daniel Markovits, a law professor trained in philosophy and economics, is better placed than most to puncture one of the dominant ideas of our age. Having spent his life at elite universities, he knows from the inside the corrosive system we are trapped within, as well as how we can take the first steps towards a world that might afford us both prosperity and dignity.

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Book SynopsisFrom both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, the author paints an intimate portrait of how students and teachers actually cope, in real time, with the chronic stress, peer group dynamics, and subtle power politics of urban educational spaces in the perpetual shadow of aggression.Trade Review"Toxic Schools is an ambitious and original treatment of violence in inner-city schools, distinguished by Bowen Paulle's sophisticated integration of theoretical constructs throughout the discussion of his empirical materials. This highly instructive cross-site comparison will appeal not just to scholars of education and school administrators. It is relayed in such visceral terms that it will likely appeal to a broad readership as well." (Peter Ibarra, University of Illinois at Chicago)"

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"In his compelling book, Farmer captures the central dilemma of our times - the increasing disparities of health and well-being within and among societies. While all member countries of the United Nations denounce the gross violations of human rights perpetrated by those who torture, murder, or imprison without due process, the insidious violations of human rights due to structural violence involving the denial of economic opportunity, decent housing, or access to health care and education are commonly ignored. Pathologies of Power makes a powerful case that our very humanity is threatened by our collective failure to end these abuses." - Robert S. Lawrence, President of Physicians for Human Rights and Edyth Schoenrich Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University "This is an angry and a hopeful book, and, like everything Dr. Farmer has written, it has both passion and authority. Pathologies of Power is an eloquent plea for a working definition of human rights that would not neglect the most basic rights of all: food, shelter, and health. This plea has special potency because it comes from Dr. Farmer, a person who has proven that the dream of universal and comprehensive human rights is possible, and who has brought food, shelter, health, and hope to some of the poorest people on this earth." - Tracy Kidder, author of Mountains beyond Mountains: Healing the World: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer"Table of ContentsForeword by Amartya Sen Acknowledgments Introduction PART I. BEARING WITNESS 1. On Suffering and Structural Violence Social and Economic Rights in the Global Era 2. Pestilence and Restraint Guantánamo, AIDS, and the Logic of Quarantine 3. Lessons from Chiapas 4. A Plague on All Our Houses? Resurgent Tuberculosis inside Russia’s Prisons PART II. ONE PHYSICIAN’S PERSPECTIVE ON HUMAN RIGHTS 5. Health, Healing, and Social Justice Insights from Liberation Theology 6. Listening for Prophetic Voices A Critique of Market-Based Medicine 7. Cruel and Unusual Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis as Punishment 8. New Malaise Medical Ethics and Social Rights in the Global Era 9. Rethinking Health and Human Rights Time for a Paradigm Shift Afterword Notes Bibliography Credits Index

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Book SynopsisAbandoned airports. Shipping containers. Squatted hotels. These are just three of the many unusual places that have housed refugees in the past decade. The story of international migration is often told through personal odysseys and dangerous journeys, but when people arrive at their destinations a more mundane task begins: refugees need a place to stay. Governments and charities have adopted a range of strategies in response to this need. Some have sequestered refugees in massive camps of glinting metal. Others have hosted them in renovated office blocks and disused warehouses. They often end up in prefabricated shelters flown in from abroad. This book focuses on seven examples of emergency shelter, from Germany to Jordan, which emerged after the great "summer of migration" in 2015. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research into these shelters, the book reflects on their political implications and opens up much bigger questions about humanitarian action. By exploring how aid agencies and architects approached this basic human need, Tom Scott-Smith demonstrates how shelter has many elements that are hard to reconcile or combine; shelter is always partial and incomplete, producing mere fragments of home. Ultimately, he argues that current approaches to emergency shelter have led to destructive forms of paternalism and concludes that the principle of autonomy can offer a more fruitful approach to sensitive and inclusive housing.

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Book SynopsisDeals with the underworld of society. In this book, the author documents a world of unrelenting drudgery and squalor - sleeping in bug-infested hostels and doss houses of last resort, working as a dishwasher in Paris' vile 'Hotel X', surviving on scraps and cigarette butts, living alongside tramps, a star-gazing pavement artist and more.

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Book SynopsisThis groundbreaking investigation into the lives of London's underclass was undertaken by Henry Mayhew in the 1850s. His interviews with street traders, beggars, and thieves results in a work as vivid as a Victorian novel. This new selection includes original illustrations and an illluminating introduction and notes.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Robert Douglas-Fairhurst has a strong sense of the contradictory forces at work in Mayhew's writing, which he compares successively to a peep show, a collection of dramatic monologues and an early work of sociology...this selection is still as long as a fair-sized novel, with helpful notes and a springy, suggestive introduction that captures the energy and variety of Mayhew's world. * John Bowen, TLS 17/12/2010 *Should be required reading not just for lovers of Dickens, but for anyone who wishes to understand how our nineteenth century truly was. * Simon Heffer, Telegraph 14/01/2011 *superb new edition * Ian Thomson, Evening Standard 02/12/2010 *superb introduction * Michael Dirda, Washington Post 26/01/2011 *some of the best descriptive writing in the English language * Roy Hattersley, New Statesman 18/10/2010 *

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Book SynopsisTwenty years after publication, it remains unsurpassed in the scope and depth of reportage, providing an intimate view of the daily struggles of the poor and the efforts, often ludicrous, made to uplift them.

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Book SynopsisLal analyses the effects of minimum wages on unemployment and training, and concludes that they increase unemployment and reduce the incentive to acquire skillsTable of ContentsIntroduction; Poverty Alleviation; Efficiency; Conclusions; Summary.

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Book SynopsisWhy do so many poor American youth continue to have children before they can afford to take care of them? This title offers a look at what marriage and motherhood mean to these women and provides the study of why they put children before marriage despite the daunting challenges they know lie ahead.Table of ContentsPreface to the 2011 Edition Introduction 1. "Before We Had a Baby ..." 2. "When I Got Pregnant ..." 3. How Does the Dream Die? 4. What Marriage Means 5. Labor of Love 6. How Motherhood Changed My Life Conclusion: Making Sense of Single Motherhood Acknowledgements Appendix A: City, Neighborhood, and Family Characteristics and Research Methods Appendix B: Interview Guide Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisChildhood poverty has moved from the periphery to the centre of the policy agenda following New Labour's pledge to end it within twenty years. However, whether the needs and concerns of poor children themselves are being addressed is open to question. The findings raise critical issues for both policy and practice - in particular the finding that children are at great risk of experiencing exclusion within school. School has been a major target in the drive towards reducing child poverty. However, the policy focus has been mainly about literacy standards and exclusion from school. This book shows that poor children are suffering from insufficient access to the economic and material resources necessary for adequate social participation and academic parity. Childhood poverty and social exclusion will be an invaluable teaching aid across a range of academic courses, including social policy, sociology, social work and childhood studies. All those who are interested in developing a more inclusive social and policy framework for understanding childhood issues from a child-centred perspective, including child welfare practitioners and policy makers, will want to read this book. Studies in poverty, inequality and social exclusion series Series Editor: David Gordon, Director, Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research. Poverty, inequality and social exclusion remain the most fundamental problems that humanity faces in the 21st century. This exciting series, published in association with the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research at the University of Bristol, aims to make cutting-edge poverty related research more widely available. For other titles in this series, please follow the series link from the main catalogue page.Trade Review"The sharp observations of these young citizens on their schooling, on problems in their neighbourhood and on the deficiencies of their leisure opportunities, set an agenda for any practitioner who aspires to tackle family poverty." Community Care"Ridge's work enters a previously underdeveloped field of poverty-related research, and in doing so makes substantive, theoretical and methodological contributions. This book will be of interest to those involved in the development and evaluation of public policy, researches concerned with policy and poverty, and those involved in education - as well as to anyone wanting to move toward a rich, contextual understanding of how the world is experienced and negotiated by children." Family Matters"This book is an accessible and informative read for anyone researching, studying and working on poverty and social exclusion... It is a book that deserves to be widely read, and one that demands to be acted upon." International Journal of Social Welfare "... an extremely useful contribution to the literature on poverty. The value of recording and reporting children's experiences in their own words is indisputable." Children, Youth and Environments "... important and timely." Youth & Policy"...a vivid and comprehensive picture of what it is like to grow up poor in Britain today." Journal of Social Policy"This book provides richness and context to debates about childhood poverty, and remedies for it, from the perspectives of children themselves." Sue Middleton, Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough UniversityTable of ContentsContents: The challenge of child poverty: developing a child-centred approach; What do we know about childhood poverty?; Children's access to economic and material resources; 'Fitting in' and 'joining in': social relations and social integration; Family life and self-reflection; Experiences and perceptions of school: analysis of BHPYS data; Childhood poverty and social exclusion: incorporating children's perspectives.

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Book SynopsisThis report presents the first ever scientific measurement of the extent and depth of child poverty in developing regions. This measurement is based upon internationally agreed definitions arising from the international framework of child rights. Indicators of severe deprivation of basic human need for shelter, sanitation, safe water, information, health, education and food were constructed using survey data on nearly 1.2 million children in 46 countries collected mainly during the late 1990's. This is the largest, most accurate survey sample of children ever assembled.Table of ContentsChild poverty and child rights in developing countries; Measurement of child poverty and standard of living; Absolute poverty and severe deprivation among children in the developing world; Conclusions and policy implications.

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Book SynopsisLondon's masterpiece of investigative journalismTrade Review'Written with the smoldering anger of turn-of-the-century revolutionary socialism. An incredibly important and readable book, which reminds us of how economic exploitation must always be fought, that we must always be educated in the lives of the unfortunate' -- Jack London Journal'During my youth I walked the streets of East London, following in the footsteps of Jack London. He brought back, so movingly to this young reader, the poverty and suffering as well as the laughter and tears manifest in the outcasts and dispossessed of our locale at that time. Together with the revelations of Charles Booth, G.R. Sims et al, that book helped shatter the smug composure of Edwardian England, as well as providing a transatlantic bestseller' -- Professor William J. Fishman, Queen Mary and Westfield CollegeTable of ContentsIntroduction Preface 1. The Descent 2. Johnny Upright 3. My Lodging and Some Others 4. A Man and the Abyss 5. Those on the Edge 6. Frying-Pan Alley and a Glimpse of the Inferno 7. A Winner of the Victoria Cross 8. The Carter and the Carpenter 9. The Spike 10. Carrying the Banner 11. The Peg 12. Coronation Day 13. Dan Cullen, Docker 14. Hops and Hoppers 15. The Sea Wife 16. Property Versus Person 17. Inefficiency 18. Wages 19. The Ghetto 20. Coffee-Houses and Doss-Houses 21. The Precariousness of Life 22. Suicide 23. The Children 24. A Vision of the Night 25. The Hunger Wall 26. Drink, Temperance, and Thrift 27. The Management

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Book SynopsisNow a major new stage work ''Punch'' by James Graham, at London''s Young Vic theatre 1 March to 12 April 2025????? The Times????? What''s On Stage???? Guardian???? Telegraph???? Financial Times???? The StageIn 2011 Jacob Dunne threw a single punch that ended another man's life. Sentenced to prison for manslaughter, he served fourteen months of a custodial sentence. On his release, he found himself homeless, unemployed and struggling to find a sense of purpose. But with the help of others, and with the encouragement of his victim's parents, he managed to get his life back on track.Right From Wrong follows the course of Jacob's life, beginning on a council estate in Nottingham. Beset by problems at home and at school, Jacob drifted into drug-related gang culture, drinking heavily and fighting for fun before a fateful night changed the course of his life. Unflinching in its account of Jacob's guilt and shame, this book will reveal how Jacob used the experience to turn things around. He haTrade Review‘Part mea culpa, part love letter to his mother, and part manifesto on how to help children from difficult backgrounds to avoid the lifestyle he led. At its heart is the theme of restorative justice.’ The Guardian ‘Engaging… Dunne argues cogently, coherently and from experience that to have choices in life you also have to have chances.’ The Observer, Book of the Day ‘A split second becomes a defining moment for two families and the end of a man’s life. A much-needed burst of light in the dark meadow of time.’ Lemn Sissay, author of My Name is Why ‘A moving and unflinching account of an extraordinary journey. Jacob's astonishing bravery in looking inwards, as well as out towards society and its criminal justice system, is so admirable and beautifully done. It contains that rare thing in story about tragedy – genuine hope.’ James Graham, playwright ‘Captivating and insightful… surprisingly full of hope.’ Nazir Afzal, author of The Prosecutor: One Man’s Pursuit of Justice for the Voiceless ‘A compelling case for restorative justice.’ The Telegraph ‘This powerful and unflinching memoir is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why hurt people hurt people. A must-read for anyone working in the criminal justice system.’ Marina Cantacuzino, founder of The Forgiveness Project Praise for The Punch, the BBC podcast that inspired the book: ‘A devastating listen …. The Punch made you interrogate your idea of shame, and forgiveness.’ Miranda Sawyer, The Guardian ‘Made me cry all day … You feel the beautiful stark pallor of words like forgiveness, and love. Jacob’s self-doubt is powerful too.’ The New Statesman ‘Powerful … exquisite. … A gentle, compelling case for restorative justice’ The Telegraph ‘Showed us how to look harder at ourselves. And to understand why.’ The Times

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Book SynopsisActive labour market policies aim to assist people not in work into work through a range of interventions including job search, training and in-work support and development. While policies and scholarship predominantly focus on jobseekers' engagement with these initiatives, this book sheds light for the first time on the employer's perspective.

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Book SynopsisBeneath the surface of Manhattan’s Riverside Park run railroad tunnels, disused for decades, where over the years unhoused people took shelter. The sociologist Terry Williams ventured into the tunnel residents’ world, seeking to understand life on the margins and out of sight.Trade ReviewIn Life Underground, Terry Williams meets Fyodor Dostoyevsky in the netherworld of New York City, unearthing the everyday lives of the city’s misbegotten bottom dwellers, immortalizing them for posterity. Richly observed and well-written, this book is a must-read for anyone who cares to truly understand the lives of those at the end of the line. -- Elijah Anderson, author of Black in White SpaceLife Underground provides unique documentation of the lives of homeless people living in underground tunnels and other spaces beneath the streets of New York City. No other work studies in so much detail the lives of people who might be considered the worst off of the city's worst off. -- Thomas J. Main, author of Homelessness in New York City: Policymaking from Koch to de BlasioTerry Williams has once again written a beautiful ethnographic piece, offering us a profound sociological work on 'shelterless life' below and at the margins of one of the richest but also socially polarized cities in the world: New York. Based on interviews, field notes, maps, journals, dream records, and a photographic register, Williams makes visible the living conditions of a population that is all too often invisibilized: homeless people. Their voices and life experiences are at the center of this research work together with the neoliberal transformations of said city. A fascinating and illuminating book that everyone should read, especially those who want to understand, challenge, and put an end to the housing crisis - in New York and globally. -- Ana Cárdenas Tomažič, Institute for Social Research (IfS), Goethe University FrankfurtTable of ContentsPrologueAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Descent2. Genesis3. Underground Ecology4. Men Underground: Bernard, Kal, and Jason5. Working Life6. Food: Restaurants and Soup Kitchens7. Women Underground: Tin Can Tina8. Beatrice and Bobo9. The Tagalong10. The Rabbit Hole 11. Reflections on Life Under the StreetEndnoteEpilogue: Mediating the Underground: Bernard’s ExitAppendix A: Income and Housing in New York City, 2002–2014Appendix B: Behavior Mapping and CartographyAppendix C: Interview Questions for Bernard, Princeton University, 2012Appendix D: Bernard’s Dream and PostcardAppendix E: Legacies of Harm: Policy and PolicingAppendix F: Where Are They Now?NotesIndex

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Book SynopsisUsing rich and detailed data, this groundbreaking book explains whyhomelessness has become a crisis in America and reveals the structural conditions that underlie it. In Homelessness Is a Housing Problem, Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern seek to explain the substantial regional variation in rates of homelessness in cities across the United States. In a departure from many analytical approaches, Colburn and Aldern shift their focus from the individual experiencing homelessness to the metropolitan area. Using accessible statistical analysis, they test a range of conventional beliefs about what drives the prevalence of homelessness in a given cityincluding mental illness, drug use, poverty, weather, generosity of public assistance, and low-income mobilityand find that none explain the regional variation observed across the country. Instead, housing market conditions, such as the cost and availability of rental housing, offer a far more convincing account. With rigor and clarity, Homelessness Is a Housing Problem explores U.S. cities' diverse experiences with housing precarity and offers policy solutions for unique regional contexts.Trade Review"Colburn and Aldern’s analysis is essential and convincing, providing a framework for understanding the root causes of homelessness." * San Francisco Examiner *"The book’s central question is this: What might explain the substantial regional variation in per capita homeless rates in the United States? The answers may not surprise everyone, but the authors’ route to their conclusions will both inform and inspire. . . . There is plenty of material in the book for individuals wondering how to advocate for affordable housing, churches discerning giving or leasing land for housing, and communities that want to be proactive and avoid a housing crisis." * Christian Century *"Ultimately, Homelessness Is a Housing Problem should erase any doubt about the powerful role of housing markets in creating homelessness. Written with straightforward prose and digestible empirical analyses suitable for academic and lay audiences alike, the book will serve as a useful resource for planners seeking to dispel myths about homelessness and zero in on its causes." * Journal of the American Planning Association *"Timely and readable." * Journal of Urban Affairs *Table of ContentsCONTENTS List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments PART I. CRISIS 1. Baseline 2. Evidence PART II . CAUSES 3. Individual 4. Landscape 5. Market PART III . CONCLUSION 6. Typology 7. Response Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisUncovering injustices built into our everyday surroundingsCallous Objects unearths cases in which cities push homeless people out of public spaces through a combination of policy and strategic design. Robert Rosenberger examines such commonplace devices as garbage cans, fences, signage, and benches—all of which reveal political agendas beneath the surface. Such objects have evolved, through a confluence of design and law, to be open to some uses and closed to others, but always capable of participating in collective ends on a large scale. Rosenberger brings together ideas from the philosophy of technology, social theory, and feminist epistemology to spotlight the widespread anti-homeless ideology built into our communities and enacted in law.Forerunners: Ideas First is a thought-in-process series of breakthrough digital publications. Written between fresh ideas and finished books, Forerunners draws on scholarly work initiated in notable blogs, social media, conference plenaries, journal articles, and the synergy of academic exchange. This is gray literature publishing: where intense thinking, change, and speculation take place in scholarship.Trade Review"Callous Objects provides an incredibly clear and concise introduction to the key ideas in Science and Technology Studies that animate much of the current literature on homelessness and the built form. It is an essential reading for academics, both undergraduate and advanced scholars, and practitioners of policy, planning, and law."—Contemporary Political Theory "This short, vivid and novel book serves as a timely reminder that our public spaces are not experienced equally." —LSE Review of Books "In this small-but-powerful book, Robert Rosenberger delves into the objects and laws that target the homeless. The book balances its philosophical bent with a hard look at how cities and governments counter a homeless presence." —Metropolis

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Book SynopsisIn the US, there is a wide-ranging network of at least 370 food banks, and more than 60,000 hunger-relief organisations such as food pantries and meal programmes. These groups provide billions of meals a year to people in need. And yet hunger still affects one in nine Americans. Where are they going wrong? In Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries, Katie Martin argues that if handing out more and more food was the answer, we would have solved the problem of hunger decades ago. Martin instead presents a new model for charitable food, one where success is measured not by pounds of food distributed but by lives changed. The key is to focus on the root causes of hunger. When we shift our attention to strategies that build empathy, equity, and political will, we can implement real solutions. Martin shares those solutions in a warm, engaging style, with simple steps that anyone working or volunteering at a food bank or pantry can take today. Some are short-term strategies to create a more dignified experience for food pantry clients: providing client choice, where individuals select their own food, or redesigning a waiting room with better seating and a designated greeter. Some are longer-term: increasing the supply of healthy food, offering job training programs, or connecting clients to other social services. And some are big picture: joining the fight for living wages and a stronger social safety net. These strategies are illustrated through inspiring success stories and backed up by scientific research. Throughout, readers will find a wealth of proven ideas to make their charitable food organizations more empathetic and more effective. As Martin writes, it takes more than food to end hunger. Picking up this insightful, lively book is a great first step.Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. History of Food Assistance Programs Chapter 3. Changing the Conversation about Hunger Chapter 4. Creating a Welcoming Culture Chapter 5.The Dignity of Choice Chapter 6. Promoting Healthy Food Chapter 7. Connecting to Community Services Chapter 8. The Vital Role of Volunteers Chapter 9. Evaluation: What Gets Measured Gets Done Chapter 10. Structural Inequalities and Systems Change Chapter 11. Equity within Food Banks and Pantries Chapter 12. New Partners and Community Food Hubs Chapter 13. Conclusion – Take One Step About the Author

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.If there is one man to whom I do feel myself inferior, it is a coalminer.In the mid-1930s, George Orwell was given an assignment from his publisher to write a book about unemployment and social conditions in the economically depressed north of England. Revolutionary for its time, The Road to Wigan Pier documents Orwell's stint in towns likes Barnsley, Sheffield and Wigan in 1936, where he met and observed working-class people living in the bleak industrial heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire.Orwell graphically and emphatically describes the hardships of ordinary people living in cramped slum housing, working in dangerous mines and growing hungry through malnutrition and social injustice. It is an honest, gripping and humane study that also looks at socialism as a solution to the problems facing working-class northerners something many readers at the time were uncomfortable discussing.The Road

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Book SynopsisRob Bell's highly-praised third book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, is his most political yet. Published as part of the Rob Bell Classics relaunch, this is an inspiring call-to-arms for Christians to tackle poverty, inequality and oppression.There is a church not too far from us that recently added a $25 million addition to their building,' writes Rob Bell. Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago about a study revealing that one in five people in our city lives in poverty. This is a book about those two numbers.'Jesus Wants to Save Christians is a book about faith and fear, wealth and war, poverty, power, safety, terror, Bibles, bombs, and homeland insecurity.Trade Review‘The author of Velvet Elvis and Sex God teams up with fellow pastor Golden to write a manifesto that packs as much sociopolitical zing as rhetorical punch. If Americans today miss the central message of the Bible, say the authors, the reason is that the United States is an empire like those described in Scripture that build powerful armies and seek to protect what they accumulate rather than promote justice and mercy. Chapter titles such as "Swollen-bellied black babies, soccer moms on Prozac, and the mark of the beast" will provoke many readers. Likely to get a bigger rise is the suggestion that when the Bible says enemies will one day worship together, that includes today's enemies, the Taliban and al-Qaeda… This dramatic book is politically charged but not party-bent, bearing a message evangelicals need: that Jesus didn't come just to save people for heaven someday but to transform his followers and the physical world now.’ (Publishers Weekly) ‘Bell fights every impulse in our culture to domesticate Jesus [and] challenges the reader to be open to surprise, mystery and all of the unanswerables… Bell has given theologically suspicious Christians new courage to bet their life on Jesus Christ.’ (Christian Century) ‘Claiming that some versions of Jesus should be rejected, particularly those used to intimidate and inspire fear or hatred, Bell persuasively interprets the Bible as a message of love and redemption. . . . His style is characteristically concise and oral, his tone passionate and unabashedly positive.’ (Publishers Weekly) ‘One of the nation’s rock-star-popular young pastors, Rob Bell, has stuck a pitchfork in how Christians talk about damnation.’ (USA Today)

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Book SynopsisThere will be an avalanche of books about the pandemic. None will be as eye-opening or humane or moving as Lamb's' DAILY TELEGRAPHA story of poverty, generosity and worlds colliding in modern BritainWhen Covid-19 hit the UK and lockdown was declared, Mike Matthews wondered how his four-star hotel would survive. Then the council called. The British government had launched a programme called Everyone In ' and 33 rough sleepers many of whom had spent decades on the street needed beds.The Prince Rupert Hotel would go on to welcome well over 100 people from this community, offering them shelter, good food and a comfy bed during the pandemic.This is the story of how that luxury hotel spent months locked down with their new guests, many of them traumatised, addicts or suffering from mental illness. As a world-leading foreign correspondent turning her attention to her own country for the first time, Christina Lamb chronicles how extreme situations were handled and how shocking losses were sTrade Review Praise for The Prince Rupert Hotel For the Homeless ‘A remarkable story… The virtue of this book is the time it takes to listen to and tell the stories of these guests, mostly in their words’ The Spectator ‘‘A story of extraordinary compassion in a difficult time’ The New Statesman ‘The hotel’s year of living compassionately is told with fleetness and gusto by Christina Lamb. Grounded by the pandemic, the Sunday Times chief foreign correspondent chanced upon the story while attending (via Zoom) a Woman of the Year lunch. Her byline usually pops up in the hottest of hotspots – Kabul or Aleppo or Dnipro. Shrewsbury looks like a bathetic entry on that list but, as she outlines in a blistering coda, the UK is far from free of problems that afflict the developing world. Her book is both journal and manifesto. There will be an avalanche of books about the pandemic. None will be as eye-opening or humane or moving as Lamb’s latest dispatch from the front line’Daily Telegraph ‘This insightful account of a four-star establishment taking in rough sleepers amid the pandemic finds grounds for real if slender hope … [a] humane, humble book … a work of scrupulous reportage that offers no easy fixes, dispensing with sentimentality as it chronicles brutal backstories, tender dreams and profoundly disheartening patterns of behaviour while somehow finding grounds for real if slender hope. There is also farce and frustration, all of it building to a rallying cry for more investment in services and social housing’Observer, Book of the Day ‘Inspirational … Lamb has interviewed many of the guests and fills us in on their often harrowing backgrounds, as well as what happened to them once lockdown ended … This moving and often very funny book suggests we could take a more imaginative general approach to helping the homeless – without waiting for another pandemic to galvanise us’Daily Mirror

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Book SynopsisThe book that has been waiting to be written how Ireland's housing policy has locked an entire generation out of the housing market and what we should do about it.Clear, cogent and persuasive Fintan O'TooleMillennials are the first generation in Ireland to be worse off than their parents. Trapped in a game of rental roulette, stuck living at home as adults, and many on the brink of homelessness, the Irish housing crisis has defined the lives of an entire generation and it is set to continue.With housing costs in Ireland the highest in the EU, the property ladder has been kicked from under thousands. So how did we get here and how do we break the cycle?In Gaffs, housing expert Rory Hearne urges us to think about the people behind the statistics, and shows us that there is a way towards a future where everyone has access to a home.Trade Review‘The heart of the book is a clear, cogent and persuasive account of how this crisis was created. Showing that it is, indeed, a deliberate creation is the strength of Hearne’s argument. And while this is a source of anger, it might also be a source of hope: what bad public policy has wrought, better policy can undo.’ Fintan O’Toole The Irish Times

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Book SynopsisThe book that has been waiting to be written how Ireland's housing policy has locked an entire generation out of the housing market and what we should do about it.Millennials are the first generation in Ireland to be worse off than their parents. Trapped in a game of rental roulette, stuck living at home as adults, and many on the brink of homelessness, the Irish housing crisis has defined the lives of an entire generation and it is set to continue.With housing costs in Ireland the highest in the EU, the property ladder has been kicked from under thousands. So how did we get here and how do we break the cycle?In Gaffs, housing expert Rory Hearne urges us to think about the people behind the statistics, and shows us that there is a way towards a future where everyone has access to a home.Trade Review‘The heart of the book is a clear, cogent and persuasive account of how this crisis was created. Showing that it is, indeed, a deliberate creation is the strength of Hearne’s argument. And while this is a source of anger, it might also be a source of hope: what bad public policy has wrought, better policy can undo.’ Fintan O’Toole The Irish Times

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